Self-locking nut



Nov. 15, 1938. w. A. BERGSTROM 20,915

' SELF LOCKING NUT Original Filed Feb. 6, 1931 Inventor opening lies generally in a plane Rei'uued Nov. 15, 1938 PATENT OFFICE 0,915 sum-Looms Nor illiam A. Bergstrom, Chicago, Renchtlte Spring Nut Company,

of California riginal No. 1,861,833,

No. 513,877, February reissue October 111., assignor to a corporation dated June I, 1932, Serial 8, 1931. Application for 14, 1937, Serial No.

My invention relates to self-locking nuts and has particular reference to a bolt nut which when in place upon an element to be secured thereby is distorted from its normal shape to thereby cause the nut to be secured against loosenin under vibration.

It is an object of my invention therefore, to provide a self-locking nut of the character described in which the nut is originally formed with a depressed portion upon its lower face and is provided with a slot or opening permitting the depressed portion to be distorted to lock the nut upon a bolt. In other words, the inner or lower face of the nut is formed with a portion thereof substantially parallel to the outer or upper face of the nut with the remainder of said inner face angularly disposed with respect to said first portion and, longitudinally of said angularly disposed portion, separated from the body of the nut by a slot, whereby the application of pressure to the inner or lower face of the nut causes the angularly disposed portion thereof to assume a position substantially coplanar with the remainder of said face and thereby cause the nut to so engage the nut is locked in its operative position.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a self-locking nut wherein the slot or at an angle to the axis and to the faces of the nut and inclined in the same general direction as the angularly disposed portion of the inner face of the nut, so that when in operative position the inner face of the nut will become coplanar and the slot will diminish or tend to close to lock the nut in such position.

Another object of my invention is to provide a self-locking nut in which the lower face thereof is provided with a portion substantially at right angles to the axis of the bore through the nut, while the remaining portion of the lower face is formed at an outwardly inclined angle to the remaining portion and in which a laterally extending slot is provided entering the bore of such shape and dimensions as will permit the slot to tend to close or diminish in width upon depression of the angular portion of the face.

My invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a sectional view taken along lines I-I of Figure 3 and illustrating the construction of a self-locking nut embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the nut illustrated in Figure l, and

Figure 3 is a plan view of the nut in Figure 1.

Referring to the drawing, it will be observed that I have provided a self-locking nut construction in which a blank I is provided with an upper face 2, a lower face 3 of which a portion t is illustrated bolt and its threads that the parallel to the upper face thereof. A central bore 5 extends downwardly through the nut and is threaded as at 6 to engage corresponding threads upon a bolt or other element to which the nut is to be secured. The axis of the bore 5 is illustrated as extending at right angles to the portion 4 of the lower face.

The lower face 3 of the blank I is illustrated as having another portion 1 thereof formed at an angle to the portion 4, the angle being indicated at X, the base of which lies at the side 8 constituting one side of the nut blank I.

Extending laterally and inwardly from the side 8, I have illustrated a slot or opening 9 formed with angular surfaces which Join each other at the apex of the angle at Ill, the apex of the angle lying immediately above the juncture ll of the angular portion 1 of the lower face 3 and the parallel portion 4. The angle between the surfaces of the slot or opening 9 is designated by the reference character Y. This angle corresponds exactly to the angle X.

I prefer that the slot 9 be cut into the blank I with the bisector portion 1 of the lower face 3 since I have discovered that this arrangement accomplishes the desirable result of causing the greatest spring action on the section l3 of the nut which lies between the slot 9 and the portion 1 of the lower face 3. This spring action is particularly desirable when the nut is to be removed from the bolt since it flexes this portion of the nut back into its original position to thereby loosen the threads 6 from the bolt.

The nut hereinbefore described may readily be manufactured by width corresponding to the desired width of the finished nut and having an upper surface thereof forming a right angle with each of the sides thereof. The bar is preferably formed with a lower surface corresponding to the lower surface of the finished nu That is, the lower surface will have a portion thereof parallel to the upper surface while the other portion thereof is formed upon an outwardly extending angle relative to the first portion.

The bar may then be cut in any well known manner into short sections or blanks of the desired width of the finished nut, after which the blanks may be bored and threaded. The slots 9 may thereafter be out into the nut from the longer side of the blank so that the finished nut has the appearance illustrated herein.

The operation of my device is substantially as follows:

A self-locking nut constructed in-. accordance with the preceding description may be readily threaded upon the end of a bolt or other element to which it 'is' to be secured, the threads through the nut permitting the nut to be readily secured I! of the angle parallel to the first forming a bar having a a a1 securing means such instances completely close the down into engagement with the element to be secured.

However, the point of initial contact between the nut and the element to be secured will be at the juncture of the side v tion 1 of the lower face 3 ofthe nut so that further tightening of the nut will cause the lower section ii to be moved upwardly relative to the remaining portion of the nut. The amount of motion permitted the lower section II is limited by the dimensions of the slot 9 and when the nut is in its operative position, i. e., locked in place'on the bolt and against the work piece, the inner or lower face thereof lies in a single plane flush against. said work piece. This, of course, es or reduces the slot 9 and may in some same. However, it will be observed maining threads in the nut so that the nut will in effect he "jammed" upon the bolt to which it is secured. This distortion of the threads will secure the nut against displacement under vibration without the necessity of using any additionas cotter pins, lockwashers, keys or other similar devices now in use.

When it is desired to remove the nut, the initial I claim:

1. A self locking nut comprising a nut body formed of a single piece of resilient material having a lateral slot extending partially therenut is moved out of said abutting relation.

2. A self locking nut comprising a nut body formed of a single piece of resilient material having a lateral slot of predetermined width extending partially therethrough and spaced a sub stantial distance from the lower face portion and a relatively heavy l and the angular portortable by abutment against said work piece when said nut is applied through a distance equal the planes of the outer face and that portion of the inner face parallel to said outer face, creatof the latter with awork piece causes it to assume a position coplanar with the remainder of said inner nut face, thereby diminishing the slot and lockingly engaging the threads of a bolt.

4. A self locking relatively to the axis of the bore and to the inner face of the nut, integral with the nut on each side of said bore and defined by the slot and said angularly disposed portion of the inner nut face to. 

